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What is karaoke?

A:

Karaoke is singing with a pre-existing song, where you replace the original lead singer. Karaoke songs are reproduced to sound like the original song, but without lead vocals. The lyrics of the song are presented to the singer via a video screen, highlighting the words to be sung, so that the singer can follow along without memorizing the song lyrics. Karaoke songs are rarely produced by the original artist or recording studio. They are usually recreated by independent karaoke manufacturers. Most of these manufacturers use professional musicians and singers to produce the likeness of the original song. Karaoke songs may include some vocals. If the original song contains any background vocals (i.e. chorus, harmonies, back-up singers, etc), then the karaoke versions will usually contain them as well.

Certain karaoke discs provide the lead vocals as well, for demonstration purposes. See our Karaoke Formats section for details about each type of karaoke format.

Click here for more information about karaoke, including it's dictionary definition and history.

Q:

Do karaoke songs use original artist recordings?

A:

Karaoke songs are never produced by the original artist or recording studio. They are recreated by independent karaoke manufacturers. Most of these manufacturers use professional musicians and singers to produce the likeness of the original song. Their goal in creating a karaoke song is to sound as similar to the original song as possible. Each manufacturers' version of a song will sound different from the original song and from one another.

Q:

Do karaoke songs have background vocals?

A:

Yes, if the original song has background vocals (e.g. chrous, harmonies, etc.), then most manufacturers will include such background vocals in their karaoke rendition of that song. These background vocals are not removable.

Q:

Why can't I find the song that I am looking for?

A:

DB Karaoke has a large music database, but unfortunately, not all songs are available in karaoke format. Reasons for this are that manufacturers tend to recreate more popular songs only. Manufacturers also have to obtain legal rights to reproduce each song. Certain artist and recording studios do not always allow their songs to be produced into a karaoke version. Also, if the song you're looking for is very new, it may just be a matter of time before it becomes available as a karaoke song.

Q:

What is CDG, CDGM, VCD, DVD, SCDG, and NEO+G?

A:

These are all different types of karaoke disc formats. Each format has it's advantages and disadvantages. All of these formats require a karaoke player capable of playing the respected format in order to view the graphics, and in some cases, hear the audio.

Click here for more information about each karaoke format.

Q:

What are DVD Karaoke Discs?

A:

DVD stands for Digital Versatile Discs. DVD Karaoke disks are generally replications of the Video CD Karaoke disks. The video background on a DVD Karaoke Disk is much higher quality than a Video CD disk, however, currently there is no additional music, improved sound quality, or special DVD features. DVD Karaoke disks tend to be higher priced and there is less selection of songs.

A normal DVD player will play both the DVD and Video CD Karaoke disks. However, a Karaoke DVD Player has additional features such as microphone inputs, key changer, and echo control.

Q:

Will karaoke DVDs play on my standard DVD player or computer DVD-ROM drive?

A:

Yes, however, a Karaoke DVD Player will usually have additional features such as microphone inputs, key changer, and echo control.